Medicaid Expansion Benefits Rural Residents, Says New Report

Medicaid expansion advocates gathered enough signatures for a November ballot initiative on whether to expand the federal health insurance program.

James Dawson
/ Boise State Public Radio

Originally published on September 28, 2018 10:07 am

Idaho and Utah voters will decide whether to expand Medicaid at the ballot this November. Those voters might want to look at a report out this week that assessed how the expansion of the federal health care program played out.

The study out of Georgetown University shows that the number of uninsured adults went down in states that expanded Medicaid. Colorado in particular saw one of the biggest drops.

The report also shows that expansion increased access to healthcare in rural areas - that’s about a quarter of the population in our region as a whole.

Lauren Necochea is with the nonprofit Idaho Voices For Children and says:

"By helping keep rural hospitals open, Medicaid helps not only families that enroll but also entire communities that benefit from the availability of rural health care providers."

In the Mountain West, Colorado and Montana are among 34 states that have opted to expand Medicaid. Idaho, Wyoming and Utah did not.Although that might change come November.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

More healthcare providers around Wyoming are expressing worry over the Senate’s healthcare bill released last week.

The Downtown Clinic in Laramie provides primary care and emergency dental services to people without any healthcare coverage.

Pete Gosar, the clinic’s executive director, said the bill may make it more difficult to provide coverage there. The clinic recently had to extend its operating hours, staying open two days a week instead of one, to accommodate all 700 patients.

The U.S. Senate released its version of a healthcare bill Thursday. Wyoming Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso helped craft the legislation, and they say it will be an improvement over the Affordable Care Act. But the head of the state's largest hospital is worried.

Vickie Diamond, CEO of the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, said ultimately the bill would hurt hospitals in Wyoming. She said the biggest impact would be from the bill’s significant decrease in federal Medicaid funding, starting in 2021.